After sitting in the ruined tent for a long time, I finally stood up and looked around me silently, then I sighed before heading towards the exit.

The first thing I saw when I left the tent was Deraan and Gorduf standing there, waiting for me. I almost froze at the sight of Deraan but I had already expected him to be there so I continued on my way silently, with my bodyguard and butler following close behind me.

I tried my best to act normal, but despite my best efforts and my better judgment, I couldn't help but throw a glance at Deraan's stomach, seeing the burned hole in his shirt, yet the spotless skin beneath that, I felt my muscles loosen up, as that stubborn nervousness that was bugging me out finally left me.

I knew from Zagmuz's memories that what happened before wasn't an isolated occurrence. Zagmuz's horrible self-control meant that he lost control over himself more than once, which lead to him hurting a lot of the people close to him, and unfortunately, that happened even to his bodyguard, Deraan, one of the people he cared about the most. 

Zagmuz was disturbed the first time it happened and he saw that he wounded Deraan. But him being, well him, he didn't know how to react and he just ran away without apologizing or anything. The next time he met Deraan, the man seemed as good as new and he didn't push Zagmuz for anything, the prince, of course, didn't take this incident as a turning point for him to rethink his actions, he simply continued as he was, burying the panic and pain he felt when he saw Deraan's wound deep inside and forgetting about it.

Since then, the same event happened many times more, all with the same conclusion, Deraan would heal soon after and he would act as if nothing happened, and Zagmuz was more than happy to keep things like that.

With the uneasiness that was filling my mind dealt with, I finally had time to think about the more pressuring subject. I had to, first, find a way to alert the guard in Border Town to the invading army that was heading their way, all without making myself seem too suspicious and without having them question how I got hold of that piece of information, and second, to find a way to delay an army from reaching said town for as much as possible.

I had a few ideas about how to achieve the second point, I just had to be Zagmuz, or more specifically, a Zagmuz who's having a bad day. And I felt bad that I was thinking this, but the outburst that I had earlier really pushed in the point that I was having a bad day. So people won't find it unusual if I acted up, not that they won't try to get me to stop wasting time either way, but when did Zagmuz ever listen up?

The first point though? That was going to be a problem. I couldn't really come up with a lot of ways that wouldn't paint me as someone suspicious, one of the best would be to just say that I saw some shady figures the day before, and after following them without being noticed I heard them mention the invasion.

That technically would work, but it wasn't fault-proof, it would still raise some eyebrows and I don't even know if they were going to believe my words without some other evidence, they might even straight away ignore me in the worst-case scenario, or maybe send someone to check in a not so bad one. That would still waste a lot of time that would be better used for preparing though.

And worst of all, I had no idea how I would react as Dorian when under pressure. Right then, I was sure that the bodies I was in control of weren't just puppets for me to use as I liked, with what happened to me with Zagmuz I knew for a fact that the bodies themselves affected me too. 

With Dorian's cowardly disposition, especially towards his higher-ups, I honestly didn't want to go there without anything to prove my claims, it could backfire on me pretty badly.

As I was thinking about that and how things would go if I did use the method to get the truth about the invasion out, the pros, the cons and all of that, I suddenly had a light bulb moment. My foot froze mid-step as I contemplated acting upon it right then and there, and heading to Kildor and asking him about what I had just thought of.

I soon discarded that as I realized how bad that could go, I needed to think more about how to do this, and how to get the best possible outcome out of it. 

I eventually continued on my way to a big luxurious carriage, one of Zagmuz's, as I deemed that the best time to put this plan into play would be after stopping for the night, when general Kildor is with the other captains, commanders and advisers. That gave me enough time to think about how to do this right.

After I entered the carriage, with Gorduf following behind me, and Deraan riding what seemed like a gigantic black-as-night horse to follow by the carriage's side and protect me from there, I closed my eyes and started considering how I was going about this.

While that was happening, I finally made it to the guardhouse with Lambert. Looking at the mediocre two-story building in front of me, and remembering the force that the town had, I felt my heart beat fast and my feet started quivering again.

"Dorian..?" Lambert's concerned voice and his hand on my back brought me back to myself. I nodded at him in appreciation and took my first step inside.

The town's future seemed grim, the town's protective force wasn't that great, the soldiers protecting it were only around 250, along with the guards who were around 40, that made the best possible estimate for the combined number be 300 trained fighters at most, that standing against the well equipped and well trained 2500 men army the demons sent, was all that needed to be said about the situation.

I knew that the able-bodied town's people would get weapons and get sent to fight when the time would come, but I didn't see them surviving long in front of the demons.

Numbers weren't everything, I understood that too, but it was hard to keep yourself optimistic when you saw the demons' army and their disciplined marching. 

We had the advantage of being in defence, so not all things were bad. With that last point going through my mind, I looked unconsciously through the window to my side towards the castle in the middle of the town and its high walls. Seeing the castle at the centre of the town, my heart settled down a bit, at least that would help us in our defence.

"Dorian, you are finally here!" A loud authoritative voice said from far ahead into the guardhouse.

My body acted before I even realizes what was happening as I stood up straighter, before looking at the source of the voice.

A man who seemed to be in his mid to early forties was making his way towards us with long strides, as a light frown adorned his face. He was tall, around 1.86 meters, had short brown hair and a well-shaved face, showing the clear scar he had over his left jaw. He had a sharp face and look, and his demeanour made him stand out among the crowd, as if a solid weight was emitting from him.

The man was Dunn Mitchell, he was the guards' captain, and the man who took Dorian in when he came asking for a job years ago, and a person Dorian had quite an amount of respect and fear towards.

I hurriedly saluted him once he stopped in front of me and Lambert, which he waved away carelessly before continuing:

"Eric said you wouldn't open the door no matter how much he shouted or knocked, is that right?"

The dark black eyes that scanned me from head to toe made my heart skip a beat and my breath stop as I felt the blood leave my face. just that one look made me feel as if I was a deer facing a headlight, freezing me in place.

"Ye... Yes sir," I finally answered with a breaking voice.

"And why was that?" He added without averting his gaze.

"I... I wasn't feeling well, I could barely move back then," I tried to keep my answers as truthful as I could without letting anything off slip out.

"How are you feeling now, then?" 

"I'm better sir," I answered as I was gaining control over whatever came upon me.

"Lambert?" He said without removing his eyes away from me.

I could see Lambert flinch a bit when his name was called too, no matter his easygoing personality, nor his talent, the captain was still the captain.

"Yes sir," he answered.

"How did Dorian seem today to you?" 

"He seems tired sir," answered Lambert without any hesitation, "he even fell down to his knees on our way here."

"Is that so..." He murmured as he removed his eyes away from me for the first time.

"You were supposed to go on a patrol around the town's perimeter this morning," he added after a bit of silence as he looked at me again, "but seeing how you're not that well, I guess it would be alright if I sent Lambert here in your place, any objections?"

Lambert didn't say anything, and the intensity in the captain's eyes made me keep my mouth shut, I couldn't bring myself to go against him.

"Alright then, Lambert, the others are waiting for you at the north gates, be careful," captain Dunn first addressed Lambert before turning to me, "as for you, give the main office a quick cleaning then go rest for a bit."

Seeing me nod, he waved both of us off before leaving, we saluted then turned to each other. Lambert shrugged and said:

"Well, see you later then, make sure to rest well."

I nodded before saying:

"Be careful you too, who knows what could be out there."

Lambert just laughed as he left, what could possibly be out there, I'll just take a ride in the breeze and be back in a second."

"Just be careful," I shouted at his back and he waved at me lazily.

~~~~~

Sorry for the late chapter everyone

Was pretty busy this week